invisible blade of force to the front of the barge just before we struck.
The troll actually tried to grab hold and stop us, but our momentum was
far too great for even its strength. The barge floated relentlessly forward,
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driving the force blade right through the monster’s body and cutting it in half. It
collapsed, and we passed over it with a thump.
Then the goblin camp was behind us, but the commotion of howling
wolves and blowing horns we’d left in our wake had to be audible for miles.
A dozen goblins scrambled to the backs of wolves and came bounding down
the riverbank after us, catching up quickly.
Thomas cursed.
“Our archers don’t have room to use their bows,” he complained.
“They’re liable to get pitched off this thing anyway if they stand up to try it.”
“I can keep their arrows from reaching us,” I told him. “But it’s
distracting. What we really need is… ah, finally, some good luck.”
The river we’d been following flowed into a larger water course, and this
one was both wider and less winding than the one we’d be trapped in.
“Hold on, everyone!” I called loudly, and gave the barge a harder push.
Our acceleration was worse than an overloaded semi lumbering up a
steep hill, but it was still more than my passengers were used to. A babble of
voices rose up behind me as our speed crept slowly up to match that of the
wolves, and kept rising. The faint breeze became a stiff wind of biting cold,
and I pulled my cloak tighter.
Cerise leaned forward, wind whipping at her cloak as she gripped the
parapet with both hands, and whooped excitedly.
“This is awesome!” She exclaimed. “Look at those silly wolves run. You
can’t catch us, smelly monsters! Our wizard is way too smart for you.”
She whooped again, and a half-dozen voices joined in.
I glanced back to find that while most of the refugees were huddled
miserably against the harsh wind of our passage, a number of them were
reacting more like teenagers on a joyride. I caught one of the young men
bending over to moon the goblins, and even several women were jeering and
waving goodbye.
Avilla noticed my surprise, and leaned over to talk in my ear. “The wolf
heart, remember? Now we know who it worked on.”
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I raised an eyebrow at that. “Is it permanent?”
She nodded. “If they want it to be. Most people will reject the wolf nature
and lose the benefit in a day or two, but those that accept it will keep the
power. Not that it’s going to amount to much with as many ways as it was split,
but a little extra bravery and vitality can go a long way.”
“Can we go faster?” Cerise interrupted breathlessly.
I shook my head. “Not unless you want to go splat when we hit that bend
in the river up there. I have to wrestle this thing around by brute force, and that
takes time.”
She turned to stare at me. “Wait, what? Are you saying your force element
is so strong you can just push this thing around?”
I nodded.
A heartbeat later she’d somehow managed to slip under my cloak and
plaster herself against me.
“Loki’s balls, that’s hot!” She purred into my ear. “I so want to fuck you
right now.”
I rolled my eyes. “So much for being worn out.”
Avilla was close enough to hear. She giggled. “Not now, kitten. Be a
good girl, and let Daniel concentrate on steering.”
“Do I have to?”
Avilla giggled again. “Come here, silly thing.”
She held her cloak open, and Cerise reluctantly let me go and settled into
her girlfriend’s lap. I wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or disappointed, but it
was probably for the best. I turned my attention back to our surroundings, and
tried to keep an eye out for danger.
“Thomas, keep an eye on our passengers for me. We need to keep
everyone sitting down, or someone’s bound to fall overboard. If they land in
open water and slip under the ice we’d never find them in time.”
He nodded. “Yessir. Umar, Valdrin, the wizard says to sit down!”
It took him a few minutes to get things back under control, and by then the
goblins were far behind us. I noticed Avilla handing Cerise’s warmth cloak to
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Beri out of the corner of my eye, but thought nothing of it. We flew through one
long, lazy curve of river and down a mile or so of straightaway, and I let the
barge slow a bit. No need to take chances.
An odd sound drew my attention back to Cerise, and I saw that she was
hidden up to the neck by Avilla’s cloak. She was also flushed, squirming and
biting her lip.
“Avilla? What are you up to?”
“I’m just making sure Cerise doesn’t distract you, master,” the hearth
witch said piously. “I know how excitable she can be.”
“Right. Insatiable is more like it. Just keep in mind we could be attacked
by something else at any moment.”
“Not helping,” Cerise whimpered. “Danger does it for me too.”
Somehow I resisted the urge to facepalm. Those two could be a lot of fun,
but they definitely needed a keeper.
Some time later a column of smoke came into view ahead, which
dampened the mood considerably. But at least it turned out to be another
village rather than Lanrest. We eyed the smoking ruins as we passed, and I
slowed the barge so we could take a good look at the scene.
“Doesn’t look like giants,” Thomas commented. “The buildings aren’t
smashed.”
I frowned. “Good. But it doesn’t look like goblins either. They like
burning things, and most of the buildings here are intact.”
He nodded. “Yessir. Looks like some cookfires got left untended after an
attack, and set some of the buildings on fire. Weird thing is, if you look close it
ain’t just doors that are smashed open. Some windows here and there, and I
see a couple spots where it looks like something just tore through a wall.
Berserkers with axes might leave that kind of mess.”
Cerise sat up, and eyed the ground suddenly. “Does anyone see tracks?
Weird-looking ones?”
Gronir pointed. “There, by the river bank. Never seen nothing like that.
Looks like a buncha giant chickens or something.”
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It took me a moment to find the tracks. They were pretty odd alright. A
couple of feet across, with three long pointed toes. Crap. I’d seen pictures of
prints like that before.
“We need to get out of here,” Cerise breathed.
I nodded, and gave the barge a firm push. It was hard to judge distances
without pacing it off, but the tracks looked to have something like a five or six
foot stride. If the ice was thick enough to support a troll it would probably hold
something that size too, and a whole pack of them would be bad news.
“What is it, sweetie?” Avilla asked quietly.
Then there was movement between two of the houses, and a long lean
shape eased into view.
“Ungols,” Cerise replied.
It looked a lot like the velociraptors from Jurassic Park, but the thing was
easily the size of a horse. Its hide was white and grey, perfect for blending into
the snow-covered terrain.
It slunk forward slowly as we pulled away, watching us closely. But
apparently it didn’t like the way the ice constantly cracked under the barge as it
moved, because it didn’t approach.
I glanced about quickly, and spotted another one on a rock on the other